Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
SOME of the country’s biggest stars will go head-to-head in the 49th edition of Metro Manila Film Festival this 2023.
The annual movie festival revealed the first four official entries which include the Sharon Cuneta and Alden Richards’ “A Mother and Son’s Story;” Beauty Gonzales and Derek Ramsay’s “K(Ampon);” Matteo Guidicelli and Cristine Reyes’ “Penduko;” and Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes’ “Rewind.”
Cuneta and Richards team up for the first time to bring the family drama to the big screen.
“We are as of today an official MMFF 2023 entry!!! Yaaaayyy!!! Thank You, Father God!” Cuneta wrote on separate Instagram posts.
Gonzales and Ramsay are also working for the first time in the horror thriller K(Ampon) by Quantum Films.
“Such a privilege to be given this wonderful script and an honor to be working with this amazing team,” Gonzales said on her Instagram account.
Guidicelli, meanwhile, will finally be seen on the big screen playing the Filipino folk hero. The project, which was announced as early as 2019, faced several setbacks such as changing the lead actor from James Reid to Guidicelli.
Finally, husband-and-wife Rivera and Dantes will star in the romance drama that will be co-produced by Star Cinema, APT Entertainment, and Agosto Dos Media. It will be the reunion movie project of Rivera and Dantes who last shared lead roles in the 2010 movie “You To Me Are Everything.”
In a statement, MMFF said 26 scripts from 32 production companies. The first four announced entries were based on scripts and have yet to complete their production.
Additionally, MMFF said the submissions were chosen based on criteria artistic excellence (40 percent), commercial appeal (40 percent), Filipino cultural sensibility (10 percent), and global appeal (10 percent).
Four more films, which will be judged based on the finished submissions by September 29, will complete the festival’s official eight entries.
The annual MMFF opens every December 25 and will continue to get exclusive screenings in Metro Manila theaters for two weeks. — Christina Alpad
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Credit belongs to : www.manilatimes.net
